Draft-gear for railway-cars.



R. D. GALLAGHER, JR. DRAFT GEAR PoR RAILWAY CARS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. ZZ, 1909.

Patented Feb. 13, 1912.

COLUMBIA PLANouRAPH c0..wA5H|NGToN, D. c.

STATES PATENT FTC.

RICHARD D. GALLAGI-IER, JR., OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR T0 STANDARD COPLER COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

DRAFT-GEAR FOR RAILWAY-CARS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 13,1912.

Original application filed May 21, 1909, Serial No. 497,489. Divided and this application iled December 22, 1909. Serial No. 534,476.

To all whom it 'may concer/1.:

Be it known that I, RICHARD D. GALLA- GHnR, J r., a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements 1n Draft-Gear for Railway-Cars; and l do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and to the figures and letters of reference marked thereon.

The present application is a division of my prior application, Serial No. 497,489, sied May 21, 1909.

The invention of the present application has for its object to provide a means whereby the draw bar will be returned to its central, or a substantially central, position if released after having been moved laterally or radially.

The invention is primarily designed for use in connection wit-h the ordinary spring followers and springs which are usually mounted between stop irons carried by the draft beams and surrounded by a tail strap with which the rear end of the draw-bar is connected.

Referring to the accompanying drawings- Figure l is a top plan view of a draft gear embodying the present improvements, a portion only of the draw-bar for the coupler being illustrated. Fig. 2 is a side elevation omitting one of the supporting stop irons, and Fig. 8 is a sectional view showing the draft springs in elevation. Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation looking at the front of t-he block at t-he front end of the draft gear.

Like letters of reference in the several views indicate the same parts.

As in many structures now in common use, the draw-bar indicated by the letter A is, at its inner end, connected directly or indirectly with a yoke or strap B which is adapted to pass around followers C-C having between them draft springs D. The followers and draft springs may be of any usual or preferred construction but, for illustrative purposes, lthe twin spring arrangement has been adopted. The said followers C-C are conned within check plates or stop irons such as the depending irons E secured to the under edges of sills F forming a part of the car framing.

The strap B is, at its forward end, pivotally connected by a pin B with a steel block G having a fiat, rear face g adapted to bear against the outer follower C and the said. strap is made somewhat longer than usual so as to project in rear of the inner follower for the reception of a spring cup and supplemental spring. The spring cup indicated by the reference letter H is preferably secured to the rear part of the strap or is confined within the strap and is of such form that its forward face may contact with the inner follower and constitute a rigid abutment between the strap and follower. It is provided with a central chamber to receive a supplemental spring I, having an initial capacity less than that of the draft springs and adapted to normally bear against the inner follower, thereby holding the spring cup away from said follower and drawing the block at the forward endY of the strap rearwardly against the front of the outer follower. The proportions of the parts are such that a slight forward movement of the strap will compress the supplemental spring and seat the spring cup against the inner follower but, under normal conditions, the supplemental spring takes up all slack between the strap and main spring. The draw-bar is rigidly connected with the block G by rearward extensions or strap connections seated in the top and bottom of the block as best seen in Fig. 4. With this arrangement, any radial movement of the draw-bar will swing the block G about the pin B causing one side or the other to press against the front follower and draw the yoke forwardly to thereby initially compress the supplemental spring and if the draw-bar be released while the spring is under compression it will return the draw-bar to its central position. The draft springs cannot ordinarily be depended upon to accomplish this result because of the difliculty in arranging the followers so that no play can occur; for instance, if the spring pocket is too long the slight play or looseness of the parts would render the device inoperative to l rangement of springs, followers and straps would'quickly manifest itself through wear,l

even though the initial adjustment should be such as to accomplish the desired end. With the present arrangement, however, the supplemental spring holds the part-s together and the capacity of said spring is such that the parts may be assembled without dificulty with said spring under slight initial tension and it, therefore, exerts a constant tendency to return the draw-bar to its central position. f

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, isy l. In a draft gear, t-he combination with the front and rear followers, stops between which said followers are movably mounted, and draft springs interposed between said followers, of the draw-bar tail strap surrounding said followers and springs, a block rigid with the draw-bar pivotally connected with said tail strap and having a fiat face bearing against one of said followers, a spring cup also mounted in said strap adapted to bear against the opposite face of the other follower and free to move away from the same, and a supplemental spring of less initial capacity than the draft spring mounted in said spring cup and adapted to normally bear against said last mentioned fol-r lower to separate the follower and cup and thereby center the draw-bar.

2. In a draft gear, the combination with the stop irons, followers loosely mounted in said stop irons and adapted to move toward and a supplemental spring mounted in said cup, drawing the block rearwardly against the outer follower, said supplemental spring being of less initial capacity than the draft springs, substantially as described.

RICHARD D. GALLAGHER, JR.

Witnesses:

ALEXANDER S. STEUART, THOMAS DURANT.

f Copies of this patent may be obtained for iive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

